Send announcements to The Loudoun Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, e-mail to loudoun@connectionnewspapers.com or fax to 703-917-0991. Deadline is two weeks before the event. Photos/artwork encouraged. For more information, call Jennifer Lesinski at 703-917-6454. This free listing is reserved for activities and events that are open to the public at no or minimal cost.
Dragonslayer Applications, a Sterling-based software consulting company, is hosting an Indonesian Cultural Festival to raise funds for an Indonesian boarding school for orphans, April 2, from 2-5 p.m., at River Bend Middle School on Algonkian Parkway in the Cascades area of Sterling. It will feature traditional foods, shadow-box puppet shows, musicians, dancers and childrenÕs crafts, coffee from Java and Sumatra. In addition there will be information on the project including videos, presentations by a recent visitor to the Aceh region, speakers from the local Indonesian community and from the Indonesian Embassy to the United States.
Dragonslayer is working together with Hope 4 Our Children, a new nonprofit organization specifically formed to help the Science and Technology Middle and High School of Subulussalam, Indonesia, located on the Island of Sumatra in the province of Aceh, which was the closest to the tsunami and the hardest hit.
The goal of the event is to raise $22,000 for the construction of a 40-bed residence hall. More information on the project is at www.DragonslayerApps.com or Hope 4 Our Children Web site at www.Hope4OurChildren.com.
Local area vendors are invited to the 2005 Loudoun County
Procurement's Buyer/Seller Information Exchange sessions. The purpose of these informal sessions is to give area businesses the opportunity to meet the county's procurement staff and become familiar with the county's procurement process. The next round of sessions are as follows:
* Wednesday, April 20, 10:30 a.m.
* Thursday, May 19, 2 p.m.
* Wednesday, June 22, 10:30 a.m.
* Thursday, July 21, 2 p.m.
The sessions will be held in the Lovettsville Room on the first floor of the County Government Center, 1 Harrison St., S.E., in Leesburg. Call 703-771-5142 or send an e-mail to sfields@loudoun.gov.
Loudoun Cooperative Extension is offering a seminar on "Starting a family Child Care Business," Thursday, April 21, from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., at the Extension Office, 30 B Catoctin Circle, S.E., Leesburg. Topics include getting started in family child care, zoning, advertising, contracts, arranging space, activity planning and preparing nutritious foods in family day care. Requirements for licensing and how to enroll in the USDA Food Program for reimbursements of meals and snacks, also discussed. Registration fee $10. Call 703-777-0373.
In June 2004, award-winning choreographer and Reston native, Lisa M. Girdy, became the new artistic director and owner of Encore! Studio of Dance. Encore is located in the Countryside Shopping Center in Sterling and has been providing dance education for more than 15 years.
Girdy has a BFA in dance from George Mason University and is an MFA candidate in dance education. She has taught, choreographed and performed throughout the area for more than 20 years.
Mike and Faith Comini, owners of NVGA Gymnastics in Sterling, announce the addition of Keru Cia of China to their staff. Cia was a member of the National Gymnastic Team of China, where she competed and coached several members of the Olympics team. At NVGA, Coach Keru is working with boys and girls of all ages and skill levels.
Messages painted on heart and star tiles along with approximately 100 other expressions of "thanks" and "get well soon" were delivered by Pottery You Paint in Ashburn to troops recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Feb. 26. On March 9, an additional 150 or so were delivered to the USO in Baltimore for distribution to the military personnel that pass through the USO lounge at BWI Airport. Throughout November and December and into the new year, the citizens of Loudoun County and surrounding areas visited Pottery You Paint to express their well wishes and thanks to U.S. troops. Boy and Girl Scout troops painted the majority of the heart and star tiles for the troops.
Five Loudoun County businesses received special recognition for their service to Loudoun County Public Schools during the annual School-Business Partnership Recognition Breakfast Friday, March 11, at Lansdowne Conference Center and Resort.
The five honorees that were then given special recognition were America Online, which was honored for its work with Broad Run High School. Ashburn Pediatrics was honored for its partnership with Monroe Technology Center. COLORCRAFT of Virginia was honored for its partnership with Park View High School. Hughes Group Architects Principal Eliel Alfon was honored for his partnership with Hillsboro Elementary. The Loudoun County Sanitation Authority (LCSA) was honored for its work with Algonkian Elementary.
Entertainment for the breakfast was provided by the Potomac Falls High School String Quartet. Kyleigh Johnson, a sixth-grader at Harper Park Middle School, was recognized for producing the cover art for the Partnership Profile booklet.
The Washington Redskins provided door prizes for the event, which included an autographed Shawn Springs mini-helmet; an autographed Marcus Washington football; an autographed Patrick Ramsey football; and an autographed LaVarr Arrington jersey.